What is the expense ratio of SPY vs TLT?

SPY has an expense ratio of 0.09%, while TLT has an expense ratio of 0.15%.

SPY vs TLT

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust vs iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

Last updated: 2026-04-08

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is an exchange-traded fund that provides exposure to large-cap U.S. equities across growth and value styles. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.09%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.09%. Launched in 1993, the fund has a 33-year track record.

AUM: $653.3B ER: 0.09% Yield: 1.09% Since: Jan 22, 1993

TLT

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) is an exchange-traded fund that provides exposure to long-duration U.S. Treasury bonds with high interest rate sensitivity. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.15%. The fund offers a high dividend yield of 4.50%. Launched in 2002, the fund has a 24-year track record.

AUM: $42.3B ER: 0.15% Yield: 4.50% Since: Jul 22, 2002

Quick Verdict

SPY has a slightly lower expense ratio (0.09% vs 0.15%), saving about $119 per $10,000 over 10 years. Over the past year, SPY has significantly outperformed with a 36.0% return vs -1.5%. Income investors may prefer TLT for its higher yield (4.5% vs 1.1%).

Key Metrics

Metric	SPY	TLT
Expense Ratio	0.09%	0.15%
Dividend Yield	1.1%	4.5%
Fund Family	N/A	N/A
Category	US Large Cap Blend	US Long-Term Treasury

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

SPY +65.3%

TLT -37.0%

Performance Comparison

Period	SPY	TLT	Difference
1 Month	-0.44%	-2.48%	+2.04%
3 Months	-2.07%	-0.38%	-1.69%
6 Months	+3.41%	-3.98%	+7.39%
YTD	-1.16%	-0.02%	-1.14%
1 Year	+36.01%	-1.51%	+37.52%
3 Years	+64.86%	-18.51%	+83.37%
5 Years	+64.10%	-36.72%	+100.82%

Fee Impact Over Time

Estimated fee cost difference assuming 8% annual returns

Investment	Period	SPY Fees	TLT Fees	You Save
$10,000	10 years	$179	$298	$119
$10,000	20 years	$771	$1,278	$507
$10,000	30 years	$2,486	$4,109	$1,624
$50,000	10 years	$896	$1,490	$594
$50,000	30 years	$12,428	$20,547	$8,120
$100,000	30 years	$24,855	$41,094	$16,239

Risk Metrics

Based on 5 years of daily returns

Metric	SPY	TLT
Annualized Volatility	17.1%	15.9%
Max Drawdown	-25.4%	-46.4%
Sharpe Ratio	0.41	-0.79

Dividend Comparison

Metric	SPY	TLT
Annual Dividend (per share)	$7.38	$3.91
Dividend Yield	1.09%	4.49%
Distribution Frequency	Quarterly	Monthly

Top Holdings

SPY Top Holdings

Name	Weight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA	7.62%
Apple Inc.AAPL	6.71%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT	4.89%
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN	3.67%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO	2.63%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG	2.46%
Meta Platforms, Inc.META	2.21%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA	1.75%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRK.B	1.54%

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose SPY if...

you want the lowest fees and plan to buy and hold long-term. Over decades, the expense ratio difference compounds significantly.

Choose SPY if...

recent performance momentum matters to your strategy. Note that past performance doesn't guarantee future results.

Choose TLT if...

you prioritize dividend income and want higher regular distributions from your portfolio.

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